The Hawks Nesthttp://blogs.app.com/hawks
Josh Newman on Monmouth University and local college athleticsFri, 31 Oct 2014 14:22:51 +0000en-UShourly1http://wordpress.org/?v=4.0.1app-blogs/hawkshttps://feedburner.google.comLink central: Charleston Southern at Monmouthhttp://blogs.app.com/hawks/2014/10/31/link-central-charleston-southern-at-monmouth/
http://blogs.app.com/hawks/2014/10/31/link-central-charleston-southern-at-monmouth/#commentsFri, 31 Oct 2014 14:22:51 +0000http://blogs.app.com/hawks/?p=15732Continue reading →]]>The Monmouth University football team will host Charleston Southern in what will be not only be its first Big South home game, but the first of four straight contests broadcast on either ESPN3 or regional television via the American Sports Network.

The Hawks are coming off an 18-12 setback at Presbyterian in a game they had chances to win, while the Buccaneers are 5-3 overall, but 0-2 in the Big South with losses to the Blue Hose and FCS national championship contender Coastal Carolina.

Below, we present links to all of our stories this week as Monmouth gets set to host a Big South game for the first time at what is expected to be a rainy, windy Kessler Field.

After three straight weeks of road games in Pennsylvania, Monmouth is home for Homecoming and its finds a prime opportunity in front of itself.

A victory over Columbia will move the Hawks to 5-1 with a bye week up next, followed by a milestone game when it heads to Presbyterian to open the Big South portion of the schedule.

This non-conference schedule has gone pretty much according to what a lot of people predicted and a one-loss, Monmouth team firing on all cylinders is going to make for a pretty interesting trip down to South Carolina on Oct. 25.

Below, we present links to all of our coverage from the past week as Monmouth takes on Columbia in the return game from a 37-14 Monmouth win in Manhattan last fall.

]]>http://blogs.app.com/hawks/2014/10/10/link-central-columbia-at-monmouth/feed/0Link central: Monmouth at Robert Morrishttp://blogs.app.com/hawks/2014/10/03/link-central-monmouth-at-robert-morris/
http://blogs.app.com/hawks/2014/10/03/link-central-monmouth-at-robert-morris/#commentsFri, 03 Oct 2014 13:32:12 +0000http://blogs.app.com/hawks/?p=15723Continue reading →]]>Through four games, Monmouth is pretty much where a lot of people thought it would be.

The Hawks took the first two games at home against Delaware State and Wagner and now have the opportunity to take two of three in Pennsylvania to get to 4-1 with Columbia coming to West Long Branch for Homecoming next weekend.

There have been bumps and bruises and everything has not always gone smoothly, but people should've signed on for 3-1 with prime opportunities on deck for 4-1 and even 5-1 going into the Big South schedule.

Below, we present links to all of our coverage leading up to Monmouth-Robert Morris, which is a 3 p.m. kickoff on Saturday in Moon Township, Pa.

After brutal losses to Lehigh in 2012 and 2013, Monmouth went into Goodman Stadium and exorcised those demons in the form of a 28-21 over the Mountain Hawks, its first in six tries.

DJ Martin's blocked field goal set the Hawks up to go on a 10-play, 74-yard, game-winning drive that was capped by Brandon Hill's 19-yard touchdown down pass to Eric Sumlin with 11.7 seconds to play.

The win, though, came at a price as fifth-year senior running back KB Asante is done for the season with a fractured right leg. All eyes are now on sophomore running back Lavon Chaney, who is second in the Big South with 682 all-purpose yards, while his 170.5 all-purpose yards per game make him the Big South leader.

Below, we present links to all over our Monmouth-Lehigh coverage, including the Sunday follow, which delves into the Asante injury.

That's not really news anymore, but as the two set to play each other on Saturday in Bethlehem, Pa., it should probably be mentioned.

The last two years, however, have seen the Hawks got agonizingly close to what would be a big win for the program. A Julian Hayes fumble on the Lehigh 7-yard line and a Kyle Frazier interception in the fourth quarter did Monmouth in in 2012, while a fluky special teams play helped do the job for Lehigh in 2013.

Saturday presents the latest opportunity for Monmouth in a series that has really picked up steam in recent years. Below, we present our coverage leading up to the 12:30 p.m. kickoff from Goodman Stadium.

]]>http://blogs.app.com/hawks/2014/09/26/link-central-monmouth-at-lehigh/feed/0Link central: Monmouth at Duquesnehttp://blogs.app.com/hawks/2014/09/19/link-central-monmouth-at-duquesne/
http://blogs.app.com/hawks/2014/09/19/link-central-monmouth-at-duquesne/#commentsFri, 19 Sep 2014 14:32:19 +0000http://blogs.app.com/hawks/?p=15712Continue reading →]]>Monmouth has played well in season-opening wins over Delaware St. and Wagner, but now the Hawks are going to test their mettle by leaving West Long Branch for the first time since training camp opened on Aug. 5.

Duquesne presents any number of challenges, specifically the Dukes' offense where Dillon Buechel is arguably the NEC's best quarterback and the receiver tandem of Chris King and Devin Rahming is capable of major damage.

A win here would send Monmouth to 3-0 for the first time since 2006 and set up a pretty big road game next Saturday at Lehigh, a team the Hawks have never beaten but had on the ropes each of the last two seasons.

First things first. Below are links to all of our Monmouth stories from this week leading up to Saturday's game. A live stream of the noon kickoff is available for free at NEC Front Row, while Matt Harmon and Eddy Occhipinti will have the call on ShoreSportsNetwork.com

Quinn, who is from the Washington Heights section of Manhattan and formerly attended A. Phillip Randolph Campus High School of the PSAL's Manhattan A Northwest Division, represents the Hawks' first commitment from the Class of 2015.

Quinn took a visit to the West Long Branch campus over the weekend and didn't take long to pull the trigger for Monmouth, which will add him to a crop of big men who will be juniors by the time he gets campus.

Aside from 6-foot-8 fifth-year Providence transfer Brice Kofane, who only has one year of eligibility remaining, the Hawks possess the 6-foot-10 sophomore duo of Zac Tillman and Chris Brady in addition to Greg Noack. The 6-foot-8 sophomore is considered more of a stretch forward than a true interior presence.

WEST LONG BRANCH - Fifth-year senior middle linebacker Dan Sullivan remains questionable, head coach Kevin Callahan is hopeful redshirt sophomore tight end Zach Fabel can contribute and senior wide receiver Eric Sumlin's hyperextended elbow isn't considered serious as Monmouth continued preparations on Wednesday in advance of its Saturday game against Wagner College.

Sullivan, a former Manasquan High School star, remained in a walking boot on Thursday, the result of a sprained right ankle suffered in the season-opening win over Delaware St. on Aug. 30. Sullivan had treatment on Wednesday morning and was due back in the afternoon for another treatment session.

"We'll see, hopefully he'll be good to go on Saturday," Callahan said Wednesday morning after practice. "I would think given the fact he's still getting treatment, we have to say he's questionable, but we haven't ruled him out yet and that's why we still have him in the two-deep."

If Sullivan cannot play or is limited, outside linebackers Payton Minnich and Anthony McDonnaugh are expected to see time at middle linebacker behind starter Tyler Thompson.

Fabel had offseason hip surgery and has struggled to go through a full practice consistently since training camp opened on Aug. 5. On Wednesday, he went through the first half of practice in full pads, then sat out the second half after the hip acted up. Fabel missed the opener, but like Sullivan, Callahan has not ruled him out.

The two-deep at tight end currently consists of redshirt sophomore Brandon Suk and senior Hakeem Valles, a converted wide receiver.

"He's hopeful that he's gonna be able to go," Callahan said. "He's been progressing more and more every day. He's not in a position where he can start, but hopefully, he's in a position where he can contribute."

Callahan sounded far-less concerned about Sumlin, who suffered the hyperextened elbow on Sunday. He took limited reps on Tuesday, went through part of practice on Wednesday and is expected to go on Saturday.

The Dover, Del. native had one catch for 27 yards against the Hornets on a day where the Hawks dominated on the ground to the tune of 311 rushing yards.

On Aug. 7, the NCAA approved changes that will give the nation's five largest conferences more freedom to operate separately from the rest of the conferences.

The winners of this decision are indeed the ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac 12 and SEC, all of which will now be able to do things like pay the athletes the actual cost of attendance, provide greater health benefits, meals, insurance, adjusted time demands and additional personnel.

The potential losers of this landmark decision are mid-major conferences like the MAAC, which may struggle if they're trying to keep pace with power five conferences.

Exact numbers and specifics of this groundbreaking decision are not yet official, but from a financial standpoint, it stands to reason that the MAAC and other mid-major conferences will not be able to keep up with the power five. However, there are certain factors in play that could help the MAAC's cause.

"One of the things we want to do is stay relevant and we've worked hard over the last 18 months as the governance process has been under way at the national level to ensure that the mid-majors like the MAAC have a seat at the table, continue to have access to the NCAA Championships and then the revenue sharing that helps us all fund our programs," MAAC commissioner Rich Ensor said during the MAAC Women's Basketball Coaches Forum on ESPN3 on Thursday evening.

Ensor did not come out specifically and say it, but his mentioning of having access to the NCAA Championships and revenue sharing likely implied that he would like his conference to keep its automatic bid to the NCAA Men's Baskteball Tournament. If the automatic bid went away, MAAC relevance would wane severely.

Without an automatic bid, the MAAC would be left fighting for an at-large bid and for a mid-major conference, that generally proves very difficult. Since 1984, the MAAC has gotten an at-large bid just twice, 1995 and 2012.

Also, if there is no MAAC team in the NCAA Tournament, the conference does not get a piece of the massive NCAA Tournament revenue sharing. If the MAAC, or any other mid-major wants to remain relevant, keeping the automatic bid is paramount.

"Those are elements that we want in the discussions to make sure we receive and continue to receive as in the past," Ensor said. "I think we feel pretty good that that's happened and while we prefer a more democratic system overall, we understand the reality of the power conferences being able to say, 'We're gonna leave otherwise.'

]]>http://blogs.app.com/hawks/2014/09/03/amidst-power-five-autonomy-maac-looking-to-remain-relevant/feed/0Monmouth opens 2014 by drubbing Delaware Statehttp://blogs.app.com/hawks/2014/08/30/monmouth-opens-2014-by-drubbing-delaware-state/
http://blogs.app.com/hawks/2014/08/30/monmouth-opens-2014-by-drubbing-delaware-state/#commentsSun, 31 Aug 2014 02:24:11 +0000http://blogs.app.com/hawks/?p=15700Continue reading →]]>WEST LONG BRANCH - A slow start gave way to clinic in the second half as Monmouth is 1-0 following a 52-21 victory over Delaware State at Kessler Field.

Below, you will find links to our coverage, including two stories, a column and a photo gallery.